1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a dentifrice and floss dispensing toothbrush.
2. Description of Prior Art
The prior art is replete with specialized toothbrushes directed at dispensing paste and other hygiene articles such as dental floss, wherein fine differences are employed to distinguish the inventions from another and to overcome associated problems.
The first problem which the toothbrush inventor must address is how to store and dispense a dentifrice. Most of the dispensing devices employ a screw driven plunger internally disposed in a casing for storing the dentifrice, which casing usually also serves as the handle of the toothbrush. The patents including U.S. Pat. No. 4,957,125 issued Sep. 18, 1990 to Yaneza, U.S. Pat. No. 4,122,983 issued Oct. 31, 1978 to Jolly, U.S. Pat. No. 1,711,183 issued Mar. 18, 1926 to Smith, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,950,095 issued to Picard, each describe toothpaste and dental floss dispensing toothbrushes which use screw driven pistons to force toothpaste from a chamber in the handle out of a port.
In the Yaneza patent, a cap on the handle contains a floss spool, which cap is also used to rotate a screw driven piston to force paste from a chamber in the handle of the toothbrush. However, the neck of the toothbrush must be first separated from the handle in order allow the brushhead to be manually rotated 180 degrees and brought into proximity with the port in the handle, similar to the conventional way of squeezing toothpaste from a tube onto a toothbrush. In contrast, the port in the Jolly invention communicates with a tapering chamber exiting to a specially adapted exterior surface of the neck of the brush, the port being manually controlled by an internal cone shaped member mating with the tapered chamber. In further comparison, the Picard toothbrush is adapted to slide between a first and second position, whereby the bristles are fully retracted inside a compartment in the first position during which time a piston device in the handle may be rotated to force paste onto the bristles through a slot proximate to the bristles. Yet another variation as shown in the Smith patent describes a toothpaste dispensing toothbrush having a self-closing annular rubber valve member in the bristle head through which the paste is forced.
Moreover, in each invention the floss dispensing chambers are attached to the end of the handle opposite the bristle head. Such positioning of the dental floss dispenser is disadvantageous in so far as the handle is manipulated while brushing and could inadvertently interfere with the user's hand, unlike a brush head cover which is removed and does not interfere with handling of the brush.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,078,011, issued Nov. 12, 1959 to Safiancoff describes a dispensing apparatus with a triangular reservoir and a screw driven piston that is driven by a knob that is held in place by the bottom of the container; it is generally exemplary of the use of an irregularly shaped chamber to avoid a need for a track or key along which the piston advances when the screw means are rotated.
Other exemplary inventions have features directed toward making the toothbrush for limited use and economically disposable, or in the diametric alternative, reusable and refillable. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,026,191 issued Jun. 25, 1991 to Akly describes a toothpaste dispensing toothbrush with a rotary mechanism which can be removed from the chamber for recharging by means of two flanged tabs, which allow a twist knob actuator held on the bottom of the handle by these tabs to be snapped off. The same patent further describes a means which prevents rotation of the knob in a reverse direction such that when the tubular handle is empty of toothpaste, the toothbrush must be disposed.
Other patents address individualized problems associated with and unique to the dispensing brushes. For example, to address traveler's concerns, U.S. Pat. No. 4,886,389 issued Dec. 12, 1989 to Vidovic describes multiple embodiments of a very compact toothbrush for travel and convenient storage in a purse, reminiscent in appearance of a lipstick tube, pocket knife or fountain pen. To address the problem of how to best distribute a dentifrice on the brushhead, United Kingdom Pat. Specification No. 400,831 dated Nov. 2, 1933 describes rubber cones positioned between the bristles as fountains for dispensing the paste towards the surface of the brushhead. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,033,898 issued to Williams, a liquid-type, not paste-type, dentifrice is used to coat each bristle, thus necessitating a sponge-like material for restricting the flow of dentifrice, the material externally covering the dispensing holes in the brushhead. To accommodate refills, United Kingdom Pat. Specification No. 2,070,922 published Sep. 16, 1981 describes a paste dispensing toothbrush having an interchangeable reservoir handle with a bayonet mount at the neck of the toothbrush; moreover, to prevent dehydration of the paste, a split brushhead for reciprocally bringing the paste outlets in and out of registry is shown. Finally, French publication No. 2,659,941 published Sep. 27, 1991 describes a toothbrush head having a rigid shutter disposed within the neck passage and occluding the outlets, which shutter is spring biased by a spring set between the shutter and the wall of the head so that upon forcing the paste forward by a screw means the shutter is forced open.
Although numerous toothbrushes have successfully addressed the problems associated with dispensing paste directly from the body of the brush to the brushhead, none have been able to provide a structure to make the manufacturing highly feasible and minimize its costs. Most notably, regarding the problem of preventing dehydration of the paste, none of the prior art discloses a resilient memoried material forming a plug in the neck passage leading to the outlets of a brushhead so that when the material is put under pressure from the toothpaste, it compresses, and which then springs back to cover the outlets when pressure is released. None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singularly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.